Here's an idea for a motto for a new state
license plate: "Just Say No To Advocacy License Plates."
The advice might be timely in light of the Supreme Court's recent
refusal to hear South Carolina's appeal of a ruling that found the
state's "Choose Life" plates unconstitutional. Earlier, the 4th Circuit
Court of Appeals had ruled that the "Choose Life" plates violated the
First Amendment because abortion rights supporters were not offered a
similar plate. The appeals court said the state had "engaged in
viewpoint discrimination."
The Supreme Court's rejection of the appeal, of course, should be the
end of the discussion ... but it won't be. Some state lawmakers are
scurrying around to find alternatives to the "Choose Life" plates such
as "Choose Death" and "Choose Abortion."
State Sen. Mike Fair, R-Greenville, who introduced a bill to make the
alternate plate "Choose Death," said the proceeds from the "Choose Life"
tags should go to a crisis pregnancy center while those from "Choose
Death" tags should go to the Department of Mental Health for
post-abortion trauma treatment.
The state could avoid all this nonsense by simply deciding not to
print advocacy license plates at all. The state has no business
promoting a political agenda on its license plates in the first place.
The "Choose Life" plates were more than just a simple anti-abortion
declaration. The plates would have cost car owners an extra $70 every
two years in addition to the state motor vehicle registration fee. But
that money would not have gone into state coffers but rather would have
been handed over to private, nonprofit crisis pregnancy programs. Thus,
the state not only would have been engaged in viewpoint discrimination
but also collecting money for the cause.
The state should stick to putting the state bird on the license
plates and leave it at that. There's still ample room on the bumper for
people to display their political preferences.
